Courthouse lawn will open Sunday evening

At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, city and county dignitaries will cut the ribbon on the reworked front entrance on the Bexar County Courthouse.

For months, construction there forced one of Dolorosa’s lanes to be closed. All of Dolorosa’s lanes should open back up, according to a county spokesperson. The street along the east side of the courthouse will still be closed.

Workers touch up the courthouse front lawn this morning.

Also known as the courthouse tract, the work being done in front of the Bexar County Courthouse was part of Main Plaza’s overall renovation. According to an Express-News article (“Renovation price 80% more than estimated,” Aug. 4, 2008), the county had “ordered additional drainage work and other improvements all the way around the building,” which had caused a delay.

The courthouse’s newly touched-up front yard will include fresh landscaping in the way of rose bushes and mountain laurels, and the unveiling of a fountain topped with a Lady Justice sculpture.

The story of the fountain is one for another day, hopefully some time next week. I’m trying to score an interview with Tracy Wolff, founder and president of the Hidalgo Foundation, which has been raising money for the courthouse’s restoration. Wolff, whose husband is Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, commissioned the building of the new fountain, which is almost an exact replica of one which stood next to the courthouse in the late 1800s.

The ceremony will feature a brass quintet from the San Antonio Symphony and cookies, coffee and hot chocolate courtesy of Mi Tierra.

As a parting thought: I realize I opened this blog post with the words, “The final layer.” Please don’t take that as a sign of ignorance. I realize that the restoration of Main Plaza is a process, made evident by the recent Express-News article explaining all of the plaza’s violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the removal of diseased trees, the need for more foliage, etc., etc. City officials will tell you that upkeep of any city park is a process. And that’s true, too. I just wanted to point out that what was planned will soon be done.

Correction: In the first version of this post, I incorrectly identified the number of lanes of Dolorosa street. I actually don’t know. I believe it’s a three-lane street, which would mean the courthouse construction would have turned it into a two-lane street.